Continuous solid growth of feed additive market expected

The global market value of feed additives products was $16.1 billion in 2010 and is expected to grow to $27.6 billion in 2017 at an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.1% from 2010 to 2017.

Amino acids are by far the largest feed additive group. This market segment is expected to rise at a CAGR of 10.2% and reach $18.8 billion by 2017, up from $9.6 billion in 2010.

Vitamins represent the second-largest ingredient group after amino acids, with a total market value of $2.9 billion in 2010. This segment is expected to grow to $3.8 billion by 2017, increasing at a CAGR of 4.2%.

The interval between that report and this update is long, and many changes in the feed and feed ingredient sector have taken place in the meantime—changes that deal not only with an expansion of meat and livestock production with a subsequent growth of feed consumption, but also with changes in the availability and pricing of macro and micro ingredients for compounded feed.

Production of the most important cereals for feed, notably wheat and corn, continued to expand over the past decade, but consumption was higher, so that stocks were depleted.

Prices reached levels never seen before, and there is a real danger that shortages, particularly of corn, will develop soon.

Oil seeds
Trends in oil seeds are similar to those of cereals. Global production of soybeans, which are responsible for about 80% of the global availability of feed proteins, could have been increased until a couple of years ago, but there are now signs that the maximum is reached and all other oil cakes, including those from rapeseed and canola, do not have the potential to fill in possible production gaps.

The consequences will be similar as for cereals: rising prices and a true risk that within the next five years oil cakes will no longer be available to the extent required.

Dried distillers grains with solids (DDGS), the residue from cereal-based ethanol production and also a rich source for protein in feeding, became important particularly in the US where bioethanol production saw an unprecedented development.

Such changing demand and supply of macronutrients and the subsequent price adjustments drove the markets of many micro ingredients such as amino acids, vitamins, minerals, yeast and enzymes.

Enzymes hope for the future
Amino acids, particularly lysine and methionine, could expand their market position massively and develop into multibillion-dollar products.

In the hope that enrichment with vitamins helps to increase feeding efficiency, many vitamins saw a high demand, particularly from Asian countries, where the compound feed industry and meat production expanded most.

The largest growth over the past decade was seen in enzymes, which are considered as the products of choice to increase feeding efficiency, to cope with high cereal and oilseed prices and to render industrialized meat production more environmentally friendly and more economical by better utilizing feedstuffs.

The market of colorants and pigments, products that are added to feed for rendering meat and animal products more appealing and attractive for consumers, grew across all types more than proportionally to the growth of compound feed, indicating that the market penetration rates and inclusion levels increased and that consumers respond to colorations with a higher demand.

As a result of increasing demand for such feed additives and supported by a consolidated producer community and rising raw material costs, prices for all ingredients increased strongly.

Feeding and the production of livestock products became expensive in general. Discrepancies in production costs between Western and Asian countries decreased as a consequence of globalization of all feed ingredient markets.

While macronutrients such as cereals and oil cakes can be sourced locally and their prices are also influenced by local conditions, the most strategically important micronutrients are available only from a limited number of globally operating companies.

As success of animal production depends to a large extent on such micro-ingredients, these companies virtually control the global compound feed business.

This report focuses on the quantitative description of the latest developments in the raw material markets for compound feed. It explains how and why the market developed as it did and extrapolates and amalgamates data and information to scenarios for 2017.